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COLUMBIA, S.C. (Feb. 12, 2018) – Red and Amy Watson didn’t know about the Future Scholar 529 savings plan until last month. Now, thanks to the performance of their 11-month-old son Whit, they have a $529 contribution from State Treasurer Curtis Loftis to put into a Future Scholar account.

Whit beat out four other youngsters in the BabyTona 500 baby crawl, held during halftime of the USC-Texas Tech men’s basketball game on Jan. 27.

“It’s never too soon to start saving for college,” Treasurer Loftis said. “The sooner you begin putting money aside through Future Scholar, the better the odds that you will be able to meet the costs associated with higher education.”

While the Watsons had started a separate savings account for their children (they have a 4-year-old son in addition to Whit), opening a Future Scholar account is a game changer for the family, which lives in Taylors.

“It’s huge any time you have the opportunity to set money aside for a child’s education,” said Red, the assistant director of parks and recreation for the city of Greer. “It’s worth its weight in gold, especially not knowing what the cost of college will be in 18 years.”

Treasurer Loftis added, “Future Scholar is the smart, easy way to save for college. It makes good financial sense to start saving early and avoid the sticker shock that can come when facing the realities of tuition, room and board, and books.”

About Future Scholar

Future Scholar is South Carolina’s 529 Savings Plan. It is administered through the State Treasurer’s Office. For more information, visit FutureScholar.com or follow @SCStateTreasurer on Facebook. No state funds are used to market Future Scholar, this contest or its prizes.

Investing involves risk including the risk of loss of principal. Please consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. Contact your financial advisor or visit futurescholar.com for a Direct Plan Program Description, which contains this and other important information about the Future Scholar 529 College Savings Plan. Read it carefully before investing. You should also consider, before investing, whether the investor's or designated beneficiary's home state offers any state tax or other state benefits such as financial aid, scholarship funds and protection from creditors that are only available for investments in such state's qualified tuition program.

Tax treatment varies by state. The tax information set forth on this website is general in nature and does not constitute tax advice on the part of Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc., its affiliates or the South Carolina Office of State Treasurer. Please contact your tax advisor before making any tax related decisions.

The Direct Plan is sold directly by the Program and is limited to a specific group of investors, as described in the Program Description . You may also participate in the Advisor Plan, which is sold exclusively through financial advisors. The Advisor Plan offers additional investment choices, but the fees and expenses are higher. Please contact your financial advisor for additional information on the Advisor Plan.

The Office of State Treasurer of South Carolina (the State Treasurer) administers the Program and has selected Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC and Columbia Management Investment Distributors, Inc. (Columbia Management) as Program Manager. Columbia Management and its affiliates are responsible for providing certain administrative, recordkeeping and investment services, and for the marketing of the Program. Columbia Management is not affiliated with the State Treasurer.